Pilot instructor killed in Nigerian Air Force trainer aircraft crash

A senior Nigerian Air Force (NAF) pilot instructor has died after the
Air Beetle trainer aircraft he was flying crashed near the city of
Kaduna. By Oscar Nkala.

In a statement, the NAF Directorate of Public Relations said thehighly experienced pilot instructor, who was alone in the aircraftdied instantly.

"The cause of this incident is unknown yet, but the Chief of the AirStaff (CAS) has immediately directed the constitution of a board ofinquiry to determine the immediate and remote causes of the crash.

"The unfortunate incident is a tragic reminder of the hazardsassociated with the flying profession. The CAS and the entire NAFfamily commiserate with the relatives of the late instructor pilot,"the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian government is considering the acquisition ofseveral MiG fighters, Yak-130 trainer aircraft as well as artilleryand aerial defence systems from Russia.

Speaking soon after attending an exhibition of Russian militaryaircraft at the (Russian) International Army Games 2017 editionrecently, Nigerian defence minister Retired Brigadier-General MansurDan Ali said he was also interested in buying more Russian-madehelicopters.

"The Russian equipment that could be of interest to us include MiGfighter jets and we are here [at International Army Games-2017] tohave a look. We have identified more items like avionic systems andhelicopters.We have already gone for Mi-35 helicopters last year, and takendelivery of two already, and expecting to get another two early nextyear. We also looked at the (Yak-)130 jet and also we are thinking howto go about it," Brigadier-Gen Dan Ali said.

Lockheed Martin reached a major milestone with the delivery of its 400th C-130J Super Hercules aircraft on Feb. 9. This Super Hercules is an MC-130J Commando II Special Operations aircraft that is assigned to the U.S. Air Force’s Special